Main:Ashton Locklear
Lumberton, North Carolina, USA |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2014-2015, 2016-2017 |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = World Champions Centre; Everest Gymnastics (former) |Row 6 title = Coach(es) |Row 6 info = Laurent and Cecile Landi; Qi Han, Yiwen Chan (former) |Row 7 title = Current status |Row 7 info = Retired}}Ashton Taylor Locklear (born January 13 in Lumberton, NC) is a retired elite American gymnast and alternate to the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. She is of Native American descent.Native American She originally trained in T&T, alongside former National Team member Felicia Hano, before switching to artistic gymnastics.T&T before artistic In her first year as a senior elite gymnast, she became National Champion on uneven bars, her best event. She is a 2014 World team gold medalist. She initially trained at Everest Gymnastics under Qi Han and Yiwen Chan, before moving to World Champions Centre in February 2018 to train under Laurent and Cecile Landi alongside Simone Biles. Career Junior Career Most of Locklear's junior career was spent in the JO ranks. She won the uneven bars at the 2012 Regionals and placed seventh in the all-around at the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup. Senior Career 2014 Locklear was invited to a few National Team training camps in 2014, but really made an impact on things when she posted the highest score on uneven bars at the 2014 U.S. Classic, her senior elite debut. She also finished fourth on beam. At the National Championships, she won the uneven bars title and placed eighth on beam. She was named to the U.S. National Team and instantly shipped off to Canada for her first international competition, the Pan American Senior Championships. There, she took home gold medals with her team and on uneven bars. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Nanning, China. She helped the US team win team gold, and individually placed fourth in the uneven bars final, behind Yao Jinnan, Huang Huidan, and Daria Spiridonova. 2015 Locklear had surgery in late March to repair a torn rotator cuff.shoulder surgery Her return to competition came at the U.S. Classic, where she competed exhibition routines as a precaution. She competed on bars and beam at the National Championships in August, placing second on bars and thirteenth on beam. 2016 Locklear was added back to the National Team in 2016, and promptly went on to compete at the City of Jesolo Trophy, winning team and uneven bars gold. She achieved the same success at the Pacific Rim Championships in April. In June, she competed at the U.S. Classic, winning gold on bars and placing fourth on beam. At the National Championships, Locklear won gold on uneven bars and placed eighth on balance beam. She successfully petitioned into the Olympic Trials, where she placed second on bars and thirteenth on balance beam. She was named an alternate to the Olympic team. 2017 One of the only remaining veterans from the previous quadrennium on the National Team, Locklear led the Americans at the City of Jesolo Trophy in April. They won team gold and Locklear won bronze on uneven bars. In July, she only competed on balance beam at the U.S. Classic, due to her shoulder bothering her, but fell on her dismount and finished eighth. In August, she competed on bars, winning silver, and beam, placing tenth, at the National Championships. In September, Locklear, along with Jade Carey, Morgan Hurd, and Ragan Smith, was chosen to compete in the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, only competing on bars and beam. She made the bars final, but missed the beam final after a fall. In the bars final, she had an error on a pirouette on the low bar, then fell on a pirouette on the high bar after injuring her shoulder. She powered through the rest of the routine and finished eighth. She underwent surgery to repair her injured shoulder in November.shoulder surgery 2018-2019 In February, she left Everest Gymnastics to train at World Champions Centre in Texas alongside Simone Biles.left EverestWCC The following year, she returned to competition at the WOGA Classic. She only competed on uneven bars, but had two uncharacteristic falls. She announced her retirement from gymnastics in May.retirement Medal Count References